By Jaime Pilapil

DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. yesterday said he had recommended the prosecution of four members of the bidding committee who allegedly rigged the P1.2-billion acquisition of six attack helicopters.

He did not name the officials of the private company and the members of the bidding committee who had ?falsified? documents.

But his spokesman, Nelson Victorino, said former assistant secretary Roberto Nuqui, director Gladys Cagadoc, retired Lt. Gen. Pedro Inserto, and Maj. Rummel Perez of the Air Force were recommended for investigation.

Earlier, President Arroyo set aside P5 billion to buy high-tech helicopters to boost the military?s ability to fight terrorists.

?I referred the case to the Ombudsman who will issue the subpoenas. We will wait for that. There are some counts for graft and corruption and allegations of falsification of documents,? said Teodoro.

?It is up to the Ombudsman if they will find probable cause against the suspects.?

Irregularities were discovered in the bidding in late 2007 after Teodoro was appointed to the Cabinet. A three-member panel investigated the bidding.

The winning bidder, Asian Aerospace Corp., was offering to sell six choppers for P1.2 billion when it had previously offered 12.

Teodoro declared the bid void after it was found that the McDonnell Douglas MD530F being offered was not capable of carrying a 3,000-pound minimum payload, one of the bid specifications.

The committee also failed to order a test flight for the MD530F to verify if it could carry the payload.

In December, a new bidding for the contract was scrapped after bidders said the P1.2-billion budget was no longer enough.